Through the Pain -A TENTH DOCTOR STORY-
by Emma the Fish
Summary: River Song is being held hostage, scared (which isnt normal for her) and tortured. The 10th doctor - who barely knows her - swoops and and rescues her. But what happens when he begins to fall in love? - Rated r for possible sex, extreme violence, and adult language
1. Chapter 1

The Doctor was standing beside the console in the TARDIS. It had been exactly 2 weeks - 14 days - since Donna had left.

Donna Noble. Witty, hilarious, brilliant, impossible . . . . . The most important woman in all of creation. And she had quite an attitude on her! Oh, Donna . . .

The Doctor sighed and decided to go for a walk. He randomly landed in Paris, 4738, and walked around for about an hour.

When he returned to the TARDIS, the screen on the console was flashing. The Doctor read . . . . Coordinates.

He furrowed his brows and put on his glasses which he didn't actually need, he just thought they made him look smarter.

"River?"

As the blade sunk into her skin again, River Song closed her eyes.

_ He'll come. He will. He won't just leave me. He never has._

The Master set the knife down beside River.

"Now, River Song, _where_ is the _Doctor_?"

As if on cue, that noise. That wonderful, beautiful noise. The noise that meant he had - yet again - left the brakes on.

She closed her eyes and drifted off into a gentle oblivion, knowing she was now safe.


	2. Chapter 2

The Doctor emerged from the TARDIS and the Master looked up.

"So, Doctor, you've come to her rescue?" The Master chuckled. "Again? Oh, will you never learn?"

The Doctor frowned. "I'm not quite sure what you mean, Master. All I know is . . . . You were dead."

"Yes, well, this is what happens when someone interferes with things that are none of their business yet, eh?" The Master grinned maliciously. "Well, go on then. Take her. I have what I need. There's no use for her anymore. For the time being. Enjoy your time with her Doctor, because she hasn't got much left. River Song's time is running out. How ironic."

The Master teleported out.

The Doctor frowned. "River? River Song?"

She was out cold.

The Doctor held her wrist and immediately found her pulse.

"Well, Professor Song, let's get out of here." The Doctor scooped her up in his arms and took her into the TARDIS.

River's eyes fluttered open, her arms stinging.

"Ow," she looked to her right to find her arm wrapped in bandages. "What?"

River looked around at her surroundings to find that she was in a bedroom. She had never seen it before, but she could sense it. She felt the presence of the TARDIS.

She sighed. He found her. But why on Earth hadn't he put her in _their_ bedroom? Unless it was too early in his time stream.

Oh, darn.

She closed her eyes. "Doctor," she whispered. "Where - where are you?"

The Doctor was fiddling with levers and switches and buttons and what not.

He sighed, thinking that he should check in on River.

Tucking his sonic into the pocket of his trench coat and hanging the coat over the railing, he entered the hallway and headed down, rounding a corner, slowly and carefully and quietly entering the room.

Her eyes were closed at first, but they slowly opened. She was breathing deeply and she frowned.

"No," she shook her head. "You?"


	3. Chapter 3

The Doctor crossed the room and pulled up a chair beside River's bed, taking a seat.

"How're you feeling, River?" He asked.

She sighed. "My arms are sore. It's not that big of deal."

"You're ill," the Doctor frowned. "Lay back."

River huffed, but did as she was told.

The Doctor put the back of his hand to her forehead. "Your fever has gone down by two degrees."

River closed her eyes. "Why did you come for me?"

"You needed help," the Doctor rested his elbows on his knees and clasped his hands together.

"You don't know who I am," River said.

"Does it matter?" The Doctor asked.

River's eyes snapped open. "Yes, it does."

"Why?" He asked. "As soon as you're well again you can go back off into your own time stream and what not, okay?"

River closed her eyes again. "Just - "

The Doctor stood. "You need rest. I'll be back in a few hours to check your fever."

"Doctor - "

"Go to sleep, River." The Doctor closed the door quietly behind himself, then stormed back to the console room, collapsing into the pilot chair. "I should have just left her there. I already know I can't trust her, why in hell did I go after her? Uh, Doctor, you're talking to yourself again."

The Doctor stood. He really shouldn't travel alone and he knew that, but he had to stop putting others at risk.

River heard him close the door. She heard him storm down the hallway.

She lay there, thinking about the Doctor. Not the one who had just left the room. She was thinking about _her_ Doctor. Her Doctor . . .

River was so sure that it had been the eleventh Doctor in that TARDIS. Then again, she was very unstable at the time. On the verge of unconsciousness and in quite a bit of pain.

She sighed.

River had no idea what to do. She supposed that - for now, until she was well again - she was stuck with this Doctor. The thought was not at all appealing to her. 


	4. Chapter 4

The Doctor sighed, checked her pulse and her fever, he pulled the blanket further up. Her fever was going down, at about 101 Fahrenheit now. The Doctor sighed.

River's eyes fluttered open. "Doctor?"

"Yeah, I'm right here." He sighed.

She turned over to look at him. The Doctor looked into her eyes and suddenly he was drowning in spoilers and secrets and loss and destruction and doom and death and terror and horror and . . . and love and beauty and gentleness and - and it was _amazing_.

"Doctor?" River said. "Doctor? Doctor?! _Doctor_?!"

"Wait - what? Yeah? Huh? AAAAH!" He fell backward, flipping the chair over.

"DOCTOR!" River propped herself up on her elbows then fell back down. "Ouch!"

"Are you alright?" The Doctor jumped up.

"Yeah," River nodded, letting herself sink into the pillows. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" The Doctor hurried over.

"I'm positive," River sighed. "I just need to get some sleep."

"Alright," the Doctor nodded. "I'm just going to go for a walk."

"Okay," River closed her eyes.

He was running, setting coordinates then running out into the streets in a flash. Cardiff was dead, it was 3 in the morning but the Doctor was running.

The Doctor had looked into her eyes and he had seen beauties and wonders beyond even his wildest imagination.

He didn't trust to her. He absolutely couldn't stand her. But he was falling in love with her. 


	5. Chapter 5

The Doctor stopped running abruptly.

"I can't love River Song,"

Rain suddenly began pouring down, drenching the Doctor, making him realize he had forgotten his trench coat. He was almost immediately soaked to the bone.

"What are you doing out in this weather, Doc?" Came a very familiar voice.

The Doctor whipped around. "Jack Harkness, how long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough," Jack chuckled, approaching the Time Lord. "Who's River Song?"

The Doctor went beet red. "She - uh - she's just - "

Jack laughed. "Don't bother. I know all about her."

"Oh," the Doctor sighed with relief. "Wait - what? How do you know her?"

"Long story," said Jack.

"Right, well, let's get out of this rain." Said the Doctor. "The TARDIS is about ten blocks away."

Jack furrowed his brows.

"I - um - I went for a run," said the Doctor.

"I see that," Jack nodded. "Well, let's go."

The walk back was quite obviously damp, but also very silent aside from the rain drops hitting the ground and the two men's footsteps.

Jack collapsed into a chair. "So, where's River?"

"Sleeping," the Doctor sighed. "I'm worried about her. She's got a bad fever and her arms are torn up but that - that's not what I'm afraid of. The Master had her - he's alive - "

"I've been told," Jack nodded.

"By who?!" The Doctor exclaimed.

"Um - uh - " Jack forced a chuckle. "Ah, spoilers."

The Doctor huffed. "The Master said that her time is running short. Now, I don't know if that means - I don't - I think - I'm worried about her, is all I'm saying. I - I think he's threatening her and I just get the feeling that they're sort of rivals. And I'm kind of worried about myself, to be perfectly honest. Not for any reason like her, but, a bit."

"Why?" Jack frowned. "I mean, aside from the fact that your mortal enemy - mortal enemy, how ironic - is at large once again."

"It River," the Doctor crossed his arms and leaned against the console, looking at Jack. "I don't trust her. I can't stand her. But - but I was just in there a little while ago checking in on her. I looked into her eyes and - and it was . . . amazing. And I kind of went all warm and fuzzy inside. I haven't felt like that in so long. Well, actually. I felt that way two weeks ago."

"What happened two weeks ago?" Jack asked.

"I saw Rose," the Doctor said.

"So, let me get this straight." Said Jack. "You see the girl that you love more than life itself and you get all warm and fuzzy inside, then two weeks later - knowing you'll never see that girl again - you feel that way again when you look at River. Oh, Doctor, you're in deep."

The Doctor nodded. "Yeah, I know." 


	6. Chapter 6

"Are you going to tell me how you know who she is?" The Doctor asked Jack.

"You know," Jack smirked. "I wasn't planning on it."

"_Jack_," the Doctor protested.

"I can't tell you, Doc." Jack sighed. "Sorry. Spoilers."

"Oh, not you, too." The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Isn't River enough with the spoilers?"

"You're just as bad," Jack laughed. "I'm not just talking about your future."

"My future?" The Doctor questioned.

"Uuuummm," Jack's eyes widened with the realization of what he had just said. "What about your future?"

"Jack Harkness, what do you know about my future?" The Doctor said firmly.

Jack jumped up and ran toward the hallway. "I'm going to check on River!"

"You don't know what rooms she's in!" The Doctor exclaimed. "Get back here!"

"Nope!" Jack was sticking his head into rooms, trying to find her.

The door opened and closed.

River opened her eyes. "Jack?"

"Hey, River." He sat down beside her bed.

"Is the Doctor here?" She asked hopefully.

"Of course," Jack nodded. "It's the TARDIS."

"_Jack_," River sighed. "You _know_ what I _meant_."

"Yeah, I know." He sighed and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "I'm going to try and get him, alright? I promise."

River closed her eyes again and a tear feel down her cheek. "I'm scared,"

"I know," Jack frowned. "It's all going to be alright,"

"Jack, I'm _never_ scared." River frowned.

"It's okay," Jack gently wiped away her tear with his thumb. "We all get frightened sometime."

"What's he going to do?" River was shaking with fear. "The Master. What's he going to do to me? He wants me dead, Jack, I know that, but - "

"As long as the Doctor and I are around, River, nothing is going to happen to you." Jack interrupted. "Now go to sleep. I'm going o try and call our Doctor."

"Stay," River said. "Just until I'm asleep. Please."

Jack sighed. She really was quite afraid.

"Okay," he took her hand in his own. "Just until you're asleep, though."


	7. Chapter 7

The Doctor had his trench coat on. He was in the rain, again.

The streets were slick with the rain water. He didn't care.

The Doctor collapsed onto a park bench beside a man.

"Hi," said the Doctor.

"Hello," the man was staring at the ground.

"Why are you out so late?" The Doctor asked.

"I'm looking for someone," the man sighed heavily. "And you?"

"I suppose I'm just thinking,"

"What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that I should be looking for someone because I need help,"

"I can help," the man shifted. "I can try anyway."

"No, I don't think you can."

"I can try."

"If you like, but I doubt you'll be able to do anything."

The Doctor stood and the stranger did as well. The two began to walk back to the TARDIS.

"What exactly is your problem?" The mystery man asked.

"I have a - er - friend," the Doctor frowned. "And she's not well. I - I think she's dying but - its complicated."

"I see,"

The rest of the walk was silent.

However, when they were approaching the TARDIS, the man stopped abruptly. "No,"

"What?" The Doctor asked, unlocking the doors.

The two stepped inside and the Doctor finally got to see the man's face.

He had a purple coat and vest, a fob watch, neat hair, a rather large chin, and a bow tie.

The man looked at the Doctor. "Oooooooh,"

"What?" The Doctor asked.

"I - wait, what's your friend's name?" The man questioned.

"River, why?" The Doctor furrowed his brows.

The man's eyes widened, and he ran for the hallway. "RIVER!"

The Doctor ran after him. "Wait a second!"

This strange man burst into the room, having let the TARDIS give him directions.

Jack stood and looked at the two men, particularly the one with the bow tie.

He grinned to the man. "Hello, Doctor." 


	8. Chapter 8

"Both of you," Jack said. "With me, now. Console room."

"But - "

"Who - "

"Zip it," Jack snapped. "With me." He grabbed the two Doctors by the hand and dragged them to the console room. "Let's talk."

"Who is he?" 10 asked, then turned to 11. "Who are you?"

"Well, I - um - you see - well, um - " 11 stammered. "I - er - uh - Jack?"

"He's you," Jack said simply. "At least he was. And you're him. Or, at least, you will be."

10 gaped at the two of them. "Oh, no. Not again."

"Yeah, again." 11 nodded.

"Well, paradox!" 10 said. "No, wait, no that's not necessarily true - "

"Actually," 11 sighed. "In our case it is necessarily true. If it was a fixed point in time like when we - technically you, but we - met 5 because the two TARDIS' crashed into each other and collided, then I would remember this. But I don't. So it's not fixed and the paradox should have happened when we were walking back to the TARDIS but as we all know, it didn't. Which means only one thing - the Master."

Jack looked at 11. "What a coincidence."

"He had River, didn't he." It wasn't really a question, it was a confirmation.

"Yeah," Jack nodded. "It gets worse."

"It does?" 10 asked.

11 frowned.

"Yeah," Jack nodded. "I - I think the Master is using Emotion Control."


	9. Chapter 9

11 spazzed and slammed his fist into the side of the TARDIS console. "NOOO!"

"Calm down, Doctor." Jack said. "All we have to do is find the Master, right?"

"Do you know what Emotion Control does, Jack?" 11 whipped around to face his friend.

"It controls a person's emotions," Jack said as if this was obvious - which, in a way, it was. "Exactly what the name Emotion Control implies."

"But when a person is left with active Emotion Control for too long their organs begin to shut down in order from least important to vital for continued existence," 10 said. "Time Lords and other two hearted species can usually survive a bit longer than the individual would with a single heart because the heart is the last to begin shut down and usually in the Emotion Control process your life is extended to as long as your heart - or hearts - is still beating. But River only has one heart."

Jack looked at 11. "So . . ."

"Yeah," 11 nodded. "But, I mean, it still doesn't do us much good."

Jack sighed. "Just how long is too long?"

"Depends on the individual," 10 said. "We could do a scan to find out how long she's got and we probably should."

"I'll do it," 11 said quickly and hurried off.

Jack turned to 10. "How do we heal her?"

"We either have to find the Master and get him to shut it down or figure out how to shut it down ourselves," 10 frowned. "Or we had to get the antidote or reverse formula which is only found in the Kicksticians Republic which is Time Locked because Emotion Control was used left and right and the government didnt want it getting out when they banned it. Aside from that it is found on a single planet. The only planet in the Universe where you can find every antidote, reversed formula, poison, and instant killer ever to be made."

"What planet is that?" Jack asked intently.

10 looked at him with a sad look in his eyes that penetrated Jack's very soul. "Gallifrey,"


	10. Chapter 10

11 sighed. The readings were alright, but now he knew. And sometimes knowing was what gave you the ability to change things but sometimes it's what gave you the inability to change things.

He knew that he should get back to Jack and and 10 and tell them that they had 6 days until River began to die. Plus 4 days that her organs would be in failure. They had 10 days to save River's life.

But he didn't. 11 returned to the room where River slept. He sat in a chair that was beside the bed. And he looked at her.

He got down on his knees beside the bed and kissed her forehead.

"I'm sorry," he breathed against her skin.

River opened her eyes slowly. "Doctor?"

"Honey, I'm home." 11 grinned.

"And what sort of time do you call this?" River smiled weakly.

"Sorry I'm late," 11 said softly. "Traffic was hell."

River tried to sit up but 11 gently pushed her back down.

"Don't," he shook his head.

"I'm fine," River protested.

"You're frightened," 11 frowned. "And not like normal scared. Not even normal for an average human. Not even a paranoid human."

"Right, so Jack blabbed, did he?" River sighed.

11 smiled and looked at the ground. "Oh, Jack." He looked back to River. "It's not good River. Not at all."

She frowned. "What is it?"

11 hesitated. "Emotion Control,"

River began to shiver uncontrollably.

"See?" 11 said. "He's controlling you. He's making sure you're afraid."

"Who?" River questioned.

"I - oh, River." 11 frowned and shook his head. "You know who."

"The - the - the - "

"Don't say it," 11 whispered. "You don't have to say it. Get some sleep. I have I go help. Everything's going to be alright, love."

River closed her eyes, somehow not quite believing him.


	11. Chapter 11

11 entered the console room. "Right. We have ten days."

"Ten?!" Jack and 10 exclaimed in unison.

"Ten," 11 nodded on confirmation. "So, where do we start?"

"We go after the Master for a start," 10 said.

"One problem with that otherwise still very flaw filled plan," Jack said.

11 frowned, trying to figure out how that statement had made any sense whatsoever.

"We don't know where the Master is," Jack said.

10 grinned. "I know where we can start,"

"You do?" 11 asked.

10 nodded.

He flipped switches and pulled levers and pressed button and zig zagged doo hickies and all that fun stuff until the TARDIS had landed.

"To the outside," 10 pointed to the doors and hurried out. "Allons-y!"

"GERONIMO!" 11 ran after 10.

Jack rolled his eyes and followed behind.

They began tearing through drawers and cabinets and basically the entire room where River had been kept.

They found nothing.


	12. Chapter 12

11 took one of River's hands in one of his own. "Oh, love. I - I - I don't know what to do anymore. I can't - River, please wake up."

"I'm awake," she said, oping her eyes. "Hey, I missed you."

11 smiled slightly. "Yeah, I missed you, too."

"You were a twerp in your last Regeneration, you know that?" River sighed, squeezing 11's hand.

He laughed and nodded. "Yeah. But you have to admit, I had some pretty awesome hair."

"I suppose," River shrugged, wincing from the pain even the slightest movement caused her. "But you have to admit, it doesn't even compare to mine."

11 chuckled. "True, true." He nodded. "Hey, River? You do know that I am going to find that cure right? You're going to be fine, I promise."

"Yeah, you've mentioned that a few times," River smirked.

There came a knock at the door and in came Jack. "Hey, Doctor. River. I have to go. I've got to get back to Torchwood. Gwen says it's an emergency. Weevils, Slitheen, and something about a shape shifter. Code red. Long story."

11 nodded. "No problem, Jack. Thanks for everything."

"Bye," River said.

Jack gave one final nod and with that he was gone. Mere minutes later, 10 entered the room. "Okay, how are we going to get that antidote if the only place we can be sure it is is Gallifrey."

"Actually I was hoping you would have an answer to that," said 11, standing up with a sigh. "Get some sleep, River. I'll be in the console room if you need me."

River nodded and closed her eyes. For a few moments, 11 watched her. He knew all too well that she was afraid, and fear at this level was something that she was not used to. He knew that her greatest fear was fear itself - or, at least, that's what he thought. His hearts ached for her and he longed to take her place, but he knew that was totally, completely, absolutely, one hundred percent impossible. So he turned away from his wife and followed a younger self to the console room of the TARDIS.

"What are we going to do?" 10 asked, leaning against one of the pillars.

"Well, tomorrow I'm going to take River and return to my TARDIS." 11 replied.

10 looked up. "What?!"

"You're going to move on," 11 continued as if his younger self hadn't said anything at all. "And you're not to go searching for River. You'll see her again soon but you have to let it happen on the Universe's time and terms. Changing that or rewriting any of it will cause a major paradox. All of it - every second - are fixed points in time."

"I want to help her!" 10 yelped.

"You can't do anything for her until you reach a much further point in your time stream - OUR time stream!" 11 exclaimed.

"I replied to the signal!" 10 shot back. "I went and got her away from the Master which you neglected to do!"

"DON'T EVEN GO THERE!" 11 shouted - 10 had crossed the line. "I WAS SEARCHING FOR HER AND YOU KNOW THAT! MY TARDIS WAS MALFUNCTIONING! I COULDN'T TRACK THE SIGNAL!"

"Really?" 10 snarled. "Why don't I believe you?"

11 huffed. "This is pointless. You can't do anything to stop me and you've got your own predicaments to handle anyhow so why don't you just give it up and wait until you cross paths with River again naturally! Why do you care anyway? You don't trust her!"

"And how should you know?" 10 scowled at his older self.

"Because I remember being you!" 11 roared. "I remember not trusting her! I remember trying to avoid her and I remember wishing she would just get out of my life! I remember because I will never be able to get it out of my head! I will have to live with that guilt for the rest of my life! Forever! I will never ever never get that feeling of regret out of my head and my hearts and my gut and - "

10 frowned.

11 gulped and sighed. "Look, you have to deal with a lot. That's all I'm saying but I'll say that. You have to handle a lot in the very near future. And I need to help her. I need to make up for not saving her and not trusting her. I have to make up for that. I - I - I'm going for a walk. I need to be alone for a little while."

11 strode past 10 who just stood there turning everything his future incarnation had just said over and over again in his brain. 11 pis he'd the doors open, then stopped dead in his tracks.

"No," he muttered. "Hey, 10? You should come see this."

10 walked over to stand by 11, but stopped abruptly just behind him, peering over his shoulder. "Oh, God." He breathed. "How - how - no! That's not possible! That - it can't be!"

11 shook his head. "I - no,"

"There he is!" A shout came from outside where the skies burned orange and the red grass glistened in the sun light and off to the side was a tree with shining silver leaves. "Doctor!" A group of guards were practically charging at the TARDIS which stood wide open. Of course, it had no protection toward the outside world here. "In the name of Rassilon, halt!"

10 gulped. "Gallifrey,"


	13. Chapter 13

10 and 11 found themselves locked in a tiny, concrete cell under ten minutes later. They were pressed against each other, barely able to breathe with so little space.

"You said I have a lot coming," said 10, a serious energy about him to match his tone of voice. "Soon. Tell me. Because for once - just this once - I would like to know where I'm headed."

"No, trust me," 11 shook his head. "You really wouldn't. And to be quite frank, I'm not at all worried about you right now. Mostly because I'm not at all worried about me right now. All I care about is River and that she is alive and safe."

"She's alive but she definitely isn't safe," 10 huffed. "What are we going to do? We have to get out of here but - my God - it's Gallifrey! How the heck are we supposed to do that?!"

"We can't," 11 sighed worriedly.

River felt the familiar lurch of the TARDIS dematerializing from where she lay in bed, but she could feel it - something was wrong. The TARDIS was piloting herself.

"What are you doing, old girl?" River spoke to the TARDIS in that hoarse, weak voice that she hated to call her own.

The TARDIS spoke to River as she always did when River needed help - no matter what point in the Doctor's time stream, the TARDIS could sense who River was. Being able to see the whole of time and space had a good portion to do with it, as well.

'The Doctors have been captured by Rassilon,' the TARDIS's words rang inside of River's head. 'Gallifrey has returned. I am taking you somewhere safe.'

"No!" River cried. "I have to help the Doctor! Doctors! Both of them! We have to help them! If Gallifrey is back, then there in more danger then they've ever been in and ever will be! TAKE ME BACK!"

'I will not endanger you,'

"YOU CAN HELP! I'LL BE FINE!"

'I must not put you in any form of danger by direct order of the Doctor,'

River huffed. "That man, sometimes."

'The tenth Doctor,'

River looked up as if the TARDIS was a person who stood beside her bed. "What?"

Both Doctors were soon lead to a room with a long table. At the far end if that table sat a man who the both recognized - in a way. They each obediently - knowing exactly what they were meant to do - took a seat on the opposite end of the table.

"Leave us alone," Rassilon ordered his guards.

They nodded and left. It was just the two Doctors and Rassilon, Lord and President of Gallifrey. The last Lord and President of Gallifrey.

"So," Rassilon spoke in a calm but ferociously furious voice. "You tried to destroy Gallifrey, thinking that you succeeded when in reality the explosion was really just the planet being sucked into a worm hole that spit us back out here, instantaneously. Well now we've been preparing for three months for your arrival, ready for your capture at any moment. And now it is finally here. But - do tell me Doctors - where is Professor River Song?"

11 scowled. "How dare you even speak her name with your filthy mouth? Why, I ought to - "

"Hush now, 11." Rassilon cut in and put up a hand to silence the eleventh Doctor. "10, would you like to tell me where River Song is?"

"Over my dead body," 10 snarled and 11 smirked.

"That can be arranged," Rassilon said, calm as ever but still visibly fuming with anger. "If you tell me where she is, I can cure her. The Master is working against both you and us. Now, tell me where River Song is and no one will be harmed as harshly."

11 slammed his hands down on this table. "Get this through your thick skull. I would rather let her die a horribly painful death than let her fall onto your hands because I know for a fact that no matter what she's suffering from, you'll giver her something a thousand times worse!"

10 nodded in agreement.

Rassilon stood and stared at the two Doctors threateningly. "I will give you twenty four hours to think this over. If you tell is where she is, we will bring her here and heal her. She will be kept for persuasion purposes regarding the two of you. However, once you are fully destroyed from the very beginning of your ninth incarnation, we will set her free to either live among the Tine Lords or - if she so wishes - she may be exiled to Earth to live among her kind."

11 frowned which made 10 question what species River really was, but then again, perhaps he was just thinking it all over.

"If you do not choose to tell us where she is then we will hunt her down, cure her, and then slowly and painfully kill her in a thousand ways over the course of an entire Earth year. Your choice, Doctors. Oh, and you will both - of course - be kept alive for another year to watch. Just so you are aware. Guards! Take them to their cell!"

The guards stormed in, dragging 10 and 11 back to their cell and shoving them in roughly. They slammed the door and the Doctors could hear them leaving.

"Maybe we should tell him," 11 said worriedly.

"I was thinking the same thing," 10 stated. "But - then again - it's the Time Lords. This is Rassilon we're talking about. We - of all people - know what he is capable of. Know what the Time Lords are capable of. And anyway, we don't know where she is."

"Of course we do," 11 furrowed his brows.

10 shook his head. "Didn't you feel it?"

11 frowned. "I - of course, I did. I thought I was just going mad, though. I thought - oh, God, what did you do?"

"I - I thought you would have remembered this," 10 sighed. "I have the TARDIS under - sort of - orders. Orders that say if anything like this were to happen - if Gallifrey was to return and I was to be taken hostage - just as a precaution, the TARDIS is to leave, taking herself and any living companions on board to safety. River . . . She's safe. That's all I know."

11 frowned again, knitting his brows together in what seemed to be concentration. "No, I don't remember that. But thank you. You - I think you've saved her life."

10 gave a single, simple nod. "My pleasure,"


	14. Chapter 14

Somehow, 11 and 10 found a way to sit down.

"Hey," said 10 eventually. "You've done well."

"What?" 11 furrowed his brows.

"Well - erm - of we had to find love again after Rose," 10 sighed. "I - I'm glad it's River. She - she - she's amazing. Truly, she really is."

11 smiled and nodded with a slight chuckle. "Yeah, she really is. I - I still rme,ever the day I met her. I mean, you do, too. But, I remember not trusting her and feeling like I never could and never would but - but I do now. And I really will never forgive myself for not trusting her."

10 frowned. "You said that you would never get the feeling of not trusting her out of your head. But - I can't understand it - if she doesn't care and if you trust her now, then why does it matter?"

"Because I can still feel it," 11 sighed. "As if it's still there. I mean, I trust her totally and completely and absolutely one hundred percent, but if I can still feel it inside of me, then it's almost as if I still don't trust her in a way and - and if I ever stopped trusting her, I would hate myself for that."

Before 10 could reply, the door to the cell opened and there stood Rassilon. He smirked. "You have a visitor, Doctors. Actually, you have two visitors."

They both frowned, confused, and stood. Rassilon, accompanies by several guards, lead both Doctors to a large, white room. The two of them were shoved in and the door locked behind them. Before them stood two people.

"Oh my God," 10 muttered.

But 11 ignored what 10 saw and ran toward one of the two people. "River!" He wrapped his arms around her and she flung her arms around his neck. "No. No. No. No. No. River, how did they get you?" He pulled away from her slightly so that they were staring at each other, face to face, but kept his arms wrapped around her.

The two of them didn't even notice 10 who stood off to the side speaking to the ninth Doctor. However, 9 and 10 didn't acknowledge River and 11 either. The two pairs kept away from each other, really.

"Well, they found me." River said. "Then they took me."

"And the TARDIS?" 11 frowned.

River sighed and nodded. "Yeah, they have the TARDIS locked away."

11 nodded slowly. "Well, all that's matters right now is that you're not hurt."

River half smiled. "I love you,"

"What?" 11 knitted his brows together. "River, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," she shook her head.

"River," said 11 firmly. "You can tell me, I swear. You can tell me anything. I can help you, River. But you have to tell me what's going on."

She sighed. "Look, they took away the Emotion Control."

11 nodded. "And?"

"And that's it," River sighed again. "But I already know that they're going g to do something a thousand times worse and to be perfectly honest that - that scares me. It's not Emotion Control or anything they're doing to me chemically, Doctor. I am naturally afraid. Actually, no. I'm not afraid. I am absolutely terrified and - "

"River," 11 breathed. "My River. You need to listen to me, okay? I promise you, I am not going to let them lay a finger on you, alright? Listen to me - listen to me, River! Calm down. I know what they're capable of . . . I - I do. So I understand why you're afraid, scared, terrified. But because I know, and because I've experienced it first hand, that just means that I am going to protect you more than I ever have and ever will because - "

"Because what?" Rassilon and his guards sauntered in and everyone looked up.

11 noticed 9 and his eyes widened. 9 looked at 11 and furrowed his brows. 10 gaped at River with a worried look in his eyes.

Rassilon smirked. "Hand her over, Doctor."

River's eyes eyes widened. 11 stepped in front of her and snarled. "Over. My. Dead. Body."

"Doctor," said River. "Stop this. Let go of my hand."

That's when the 11 realized he was squeezing River's hand. He let go, as she had told him to, but immediately regretted it. She quickly stepped around him.

"If you want me, then here you are."

"No!" 9 shouted. Even of he had never seen her before, he knew what Rassilon was capable of and he knew that no innocent being deserved that. Of course,he was only assuming that she was an innocent being.

"Don't you dare, Rassilon!" 10 yelped.

But 11 only whispered. "River . . ." He reached for her hand and squeezed it again, but much more gently this time. "Please." He got closer to her so that his mouth was beside her ear and he spoke so softly that only she could hear him. "River, you are one of the most brilliant people I have ever met in my life . . . But you have absolutely no idea what he is capable of."

"Yes I do." River said firmly, blinking back tears and yanking her hand away from 11. "Let me do this. I have to do this." She stepped forward.

Rassilon smiled evilly. "Then let us begin,"

Several guards piped through the doors, grabbing 9, 10, and 11. They held them back. 9 tried to elbow a guard in the ribs, 10 tried to squirm out of their grasp, and 11 tried to jerk away from them and bolt toward River. Nothing worked.

"WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO TO HER?!" 11 bellowed.

River turned to look at him with sad eyes.

"I am going to put her in the fear simulator," Rassilon laid his hands on River's shoulders and she gulped.

"NO!" 10 cried.

"YOU CAN'T DO THAT!" 9 roared.

11 scowled. "GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF HER!"

Rassilon smirked and lead Rived from the room.


	15. Chapter 15

10 and 11 were thrown into a room with three white walls and one wall made of glass. 9 was dragged off to who knows where. On the other side of the glass, River stood in the center of a white room with a black floor.

11 ran at the glass wall and pounded on it . . . But - of course - Plexi-Glass . . . He couldn't do a thing. "RIVER!" He shouted. "RIVER, PLEASE! RIVER!"

She saw him and she frowned. She said something and the Doctors couldn't hear her - the walls were sound proofed - but they could make out what she was saying by watching her mouth.

"I'm sorry," she frowned.

And then, the floor turned white. The fear simulator was on and the Doctors could see everything that River could see - because they were in the observation room - even though it was just a simulation . . . It was all an illusion . . . An illusion that could drive a person absolutely mad.

"River," 11 pressed his forehead against the glass and whimpered her name. "Please . . . Be okay . . ." He whipped around to where the camera was placed, Rassilon watching the live footage from a computer in the control room. "I SWEAR IF YOU HURT HER IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM I WILL MAKE WHATEVER YOU DO TO HER LOOK LIKE CHILD'S PLAY!"

10 blinked. "Well, then."

11 turned back to River as the Master appeared in front of her. He pushed her against a wall, holding a knife against her throat. River squeezed her eyes shut.

"Stop," she whimpered.

"RIVER!" 11 cried.

The Master melted away into someone in a purple coat and vest with a fob watch and a bow tie.

10's eyes widened and he hurried forward to stand beside 11. In front of River stood a copy of the eleventh Doctor. For a minute or two, he just stood there. And River stared, she had so many looks running through her eyes, all too visibly. Confusion, love, anger, and knowledge.

"Doctor," she breathed. "Please, I - "

"Shut up," the 11 copy ran at her and pushed her into the wall as the copy Master had done a few minutes earlier, wrapping his hands around her throat. "Or I'll snap your neck in two."

11 furrowed his brows together, his breathing raspy. "What . . . What the hell?"

"Doctor, I couldn't stop it!" River cried.

"You - you tried to - " 11 copy looked hurt.

"Please!" River pleaded. "You know that - ah!"

The 11 copy tightened his grip on River's throat. "Don't - don't speak! I don't know who you are or what you are and I don't want to know. All I want is for you - " he tightened his grip further. " - to - " even further, River was gasping for air. " - DIE!"

"STOP IT!" 11 screamed. "TURN IT OFF! LET HER GO!"

The floor turned black again and the copy Doctor melted away. The lock on the door leading to the fear simulator room clicked and popped open. 11 bolted through the door as River fell to her knees, tears streaming down her face. 11 raced across the floor, dropping to his knees at her side and wrapping his arms around her.

"It's okay," he whispered in her ear. She began rocking back and forth, and he did so with her. "Shhhh. You're safe, River. It's fine, it's okay. You're alright now. River. River, my love. Shhhh. I love you."

River sobbed into his jacket, racks of sobs taking over her body. "No, please!" She cried into the fabric, her voice muffled. "PLEASE! Don't leave! Don't leave me! Don't leave! I need you!"

"River, look at me." 11 begged. "Please, it's okay. I'm not going anywhere. I'm not leaving you. I'll never leave you again, I promise. River, look at me."

"Come back!" She screamed. "Doctor, please! Come back!"

"River, look at me!" 11 was screaming with her now. "Look! At! Me! Please! I'm right here! And I am never going to leave you!"

10 came in and bent down beside 11. "We need to get out of here," he whispered.

"I know," 11 breathed. "But how? They're watching us?"

"9 got here," 10 muttered. "We can get out."

11 looked up to see the ninth Doctor standing before him, his ninth self.

"We have to go . . . Now." 9 said firmly.

11 gave a nod. "Okay, but we are not leaving her. I don't care if she slows us down or not. 9, I know how you think. If you leave her behind, I stay with her. Got it?"

"Got it," 9 said shortly. "Now let's go!"

11 stood and helped River up. She looked at him with so much fear in her eyes.

"River?" 11 frowned. "Please - "

"Please," she sobbed. "Don't - "

"River, we have to go now." 10 said. "We can chat later, alright?"

She nodded, and they were off.


	16. Chapter 16

River stood and took 11's hand, and the four of them set off.

"We need to go through - " 9 began.

"Yeah, I know where we need to go." 10 cut in. "I've been here before, too, remember?"

9 scowled at 10 and just kept walking. River was trembling and 11 frowned at her. Why had he been in her fear simulation? Was she afraid of him? And why had he tried to kill her in her fear simulation? 11 was all too confused and he just wanted her to be safe. He knew he would protect her no matter what, he just never thought he'd have to protect her from himself.

"Okay," 9 ducked behind a wall, peering around the corner. "We're going to have to run. The guards could be back at any moment. We need to book it."

"Um, if I'm not mistaken - which I'm not - then we are headed to another set of cells." 10 whispered. "May I ask why we are heading to the dungeons?"

"No, you may not." 9 hissed. "Now hush up and let me get us out if here."

"Ahem," 11 breathed. "I would like to know where we are headed, exactly, actually. Why are we headed to the dungeons, because I'm not going there unless you give me a very, very, very good reason."

"Because that's where the TARDIS is, okay?" 9 huffed. "The TARDIS is our best shot at getting out of here. If you've got a better plan, then I'd be more than willing to hear it. Do you have a plan?"

10 and 11 just scowled.

"That's what I thought," 9 smirked.

"Right," River nodded. "Let's get going, then, shall we?"

The four of them ran out form behind the wall and bolted straight at a doorway and down a narrow, spiral staircase. Down, down, down until they had reached a long hallway with several doors, each leading to a separate cell.

"It's in cell number three," 9 ran to the door and yanked it open, revealing the big blue box inside. "I don't have the key." He stated, turning to 10. "It's yours."

10 nodded and pulled a key from one of his pockets. He strode past 9 and jabbed the key into the key hole and turned it to the right. "Okay, in you go, everyone. Come on, move it or lose it." Slamming the door behind himself, 10 followed 9, 11, and River to the console. All of them pushed buttons and pulled levers and what not. But, once the TARDIS was in flight, 9 and 10 paused rather abruptly.

"What do you think you are doing?" 9 looked at River questioningly.

"Same as you," River smirked. "Flying the TARDIS. Well, not anymore, but I was. Just like you, Big Ears."

"Oi!" 9 scowled. "They aren't that bad!"

"Keep telling yourself that," said River and 11 in unison.

10 chuckled in agreement, then shook himself out of it. "No - wait - River, how in bloody hell can you fly the TARDIS?"

She sighed. "Spoilers,"

11 smiled and 10 just rolled his eyes.

"Right, well, I'll be getting back to my TARDIS where things aren't absolutely bonkers," 9 huffed. "I hope Rose and Jack are alright. Well, I hope Jack is alright. Rose will have been fine. Jack - well - I fear the state of the TARDIS."

"R-Rose is with you?" 10 furrowed his brows and frowned. "Oh . . . Wow."

"Yes," 9 nodded, quite oblivious. "Where is she, anyway? Or . . . Did she leave like everyone else."

10 shook his head. "No," he lied. "She's - uh - just visiting Jackie, actually."

"Ah," 9 nodded. "Good, good. Well, I must be off. I did set the coordinates for where I was parked. Good luck to you all."

The three of them watched 9 leave, then turned back to each other.

"River, you - you should get some rest." 11 stated.

She nodded.

"How's your arm?" 10 asked.

"Wait, what?" 11 looked at her.

"Fine," she frowned. "I - I'm going to rest." She ran off down the hallway.

"Wait - wait, what?!" 11 furrowed his brows. "River!" He ran after her.


	17. Chapter 17

"River!"

She heard him coming, but she just collapsed into the bed and sobbed. She hadn't even thought to tell him. She hadn't wanted to talk about her encounter with the Master. It pained her to even think about, never mind mention it or have a full conversation about it. How was she suppose to talks to 11 about it? And how was she supposed to explain why he had been in her fear simulation? It was all too much. And on top of it all, she and 11 were going to have more and more trouble hiding the fact that she had escaped the Library unharmed from 10. He was becoming more and more suspicious and intrigued with River everyday. She was worried. She was very worried.

"River, please." 11 pounded on the door. "Let me in. River, we need to talk. River! RIVER!"

She hid her face in the pillows as he realized that the door was not locked and entered the room, closing the door behind himself and crossed the room to where River lay on the bed. "River?" He sat down beside her. "We need to talk. Please, love. Wh-what's wrong with your arm?"

River sighed and sat up. She pulled up her sleeve to reveal her still bandaged arm. She began unwrapping the bandages until her bare skin showed. The air felt cool and soothing against the skin that had been wrapped in fabric for days, but one look at the 11's awestruck look and tears sprang into her eyes.

"I - I should have told you," she took deep, slow breaths, trying hard to keep the tears at bay. "But I didn't want to talk about it. It hurt just thinking about it . . . Or even him alone."

11 gently ran a finger along one if the cuts. "R-River, do you know what this is? Do you know what kind of knife he used?"

River nodded. "Yes,"

"Does 10 know?" 11 looked her straight in the eyes.

"No," River shook her head. "When he bandaged it, they were fresh injuries. It wasn't recognizable as any kind of poison yet, never mind Gallifreyan poison. So, how long have I got? I don't know all that much about these poison knives."

"By the looks of it," 11 sighed, examining the wounds closely. "About three to five years."

River gave him and odd look.

11 chuckled. "I'll be able to give you a better range soon," he stated. "It still hasn't completely set in, so I can't be sure. But this poison is made to keep you alive and make you suffer. That's the whole point, really. On the bright side, it explains your excessive fear levels. It's sort of like Emotion Control in a way, but only creates fear. And it was created by the Time Lords, but was one of the poisons created in Gallifrey which was widely used across the Universe even after the Time War because there was so much of it left which means there are so many places where we can find the antidote. We can stop by New Earth and go to the New New York Sister's Hospital and get some."

River nodded and gave a small smile. But 11 frowned.

"River," he said in an achingly serious tone. "Why was I in your fear simulation?"

"I don't want to talk about it," River replied.

"Please," 11 pleaded. "I have to know."

She shook her head. "No, I don't want to talk about it, Doctor. I - I can't."

"I have to understand,"

"No, you don't. Can't you just move on? Please?"

"No, River, I can't!"

"Well, why not? Why do you have to be so stubborn all of the time? Can't you take a break from it once in a while?"

"Oh, you're one to talk!"

"Watch it!"

"Just tell me, River! I'm not mad or upset! I just need to understand it!"

"Please, Doctor, don't . . . Just don't. I - I don't want to talk about, please!"

"River - "

"Doctor - "

"RIVER - "

"Stop - "

"I have to know why - "

"No, you really don't - "

"Yes, I really do - "

"Just leave me alone - "

"River - "

"I need some rest - "

"RIVER, PLEASE - "

"I'M AFRAID, OKAY?!" She shouted. "I - I'm afraid . . ."

"Of what, River?" 11 frowned. "Me?"

"No, not you, you daft - "

"Then . . . what?" 11 gulped.

"I'm afraid that one day you'll stop - " River swallowed - she couldn't say it, she just couldn't! - she wouldn't say it.

"River - "

"No," she shook her head. "Don't."

"Your afraid that one day I'll stop what?" 11 drew a shaky breath. "River, I can help you. And - and right now I can tell you that everything is going to be okay. That you'll be okay and that I'll be okay and that everything between us is just fine but if I know that you're afraid of me stopping something - and I don't even know what that something is - then I can't be honest. I can't honestly tell you that I'm okay and that we're okay. I have to know. You're afraid that I'll stop . . . What? What? WHAT, RIVER?! WHA-"

"LOVING ME!" River caved in at last.

11 stopped. He stopped talking and pushing and even breathing for a few moments. "What?"

River hid her face in the pillows again and sobbed. Just sobbed.

11 blinked, then laid down beside her and wrapped his arms around her. He put his mouth to her ear. "River," he whispered. "Please, just calm down and listen to me. That . . . Is never ever going to happen. I can promise you that. I will never stop loving you . . . Okay?"

She turned over to face him.

He wiped her tears away gently with his thumb. "Hey. I love you, okay? And I'll never stop. No matter what happens to you or me or anyone. I will always - ALWAYS - love you . . . You - you're my River Song . . . You're my Melody Pond."

River smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck. "And you're my Doctor. And you do know that the same goes for me, don't you? No matter what, I will always, always, always love you more than life itself."

11 planted a kiss in her forehead. "I know," he breathed against her soft skin.

10 sat down in the pilot's chair a few minuets after 11 had ran after River. He sighed. River. River. River Song. Who was she? 10 was barely sure he even cared, anymore. He was certainly curious, but was it really all that necessary to know?

There came a thud, like something being thrown at the TARDIS doors. 10 furrowed his brows - the TARDIS was in orbit, floating through deep outer space. In the middle do nowhere. There was another thud, almost identical to the previous one. 10 jumped up and ran at the doors, throwing the, open to find a Clara bottle with a rolled in piece of paper inside just floating there. He grabbed it and ran back to his seat.

10 spent the next half hour trying desperately to get the cork screw out of the top. It wouldn't budge.

Finally, he got so frustrated that he took the bottle and chucked it against a wall. It shattered into a million sharp pieces, littering the ground. 10 shrugged his shoulder and grabbed the paper. He unrolled it and his eyes widened.

In big letters, scrawled across the page, were two simple words;

**_ BAD WOLF_**


	18. Chapter 18

10's eyes were bugging out of his head. "I - what? How - GAH! 11! RIVER!" He raced down the hallway and into the room. The two of them looked around at him, appearing to have been in a deep conversation.

"What is it?" 11 sighed.

"This - gah - paper - MY, GOD - could be bad - COULD BE VERY, VERY BAD!" 10 yelped.

River furrowed her brows and 11 stood and crossed the room, taking the paper from the very stressed out 10. He read the two words. Then he did so again, and again, and again.

"B-b-b-b-but HOW?!" 11 stammered.

River huffed, stood up, and walked over to 11, snatching the paper away from m and reading the words. Her eyes widened. "Impossible," she breathed.

"YEP!" 10 grabbed a fistful of his own hair and gritted a teeth. "VERY EXTREMELY IMPOSSIBLE!"

River blinked. "But, how could this possibly be? Do you think it's a trick?"

11 sighed. "Perhaps," he nodded. "Yes, maybe. Possibly Rassilon or the Master or - "

" - or Rose!" 10 shouted.

River rolled her eyes.

"You know, I think you're under a lot of stress right now." 11 looked at his younger self. "Perhaps you should go and get some rest, lay down, sleep for a few hours."

"No, no, no, no, no!" 10 shook s head vigorously. "I have to go find Rose! My, God!" He ran hurriedly from the room.

11 looked at River worriedly.

"This is going to be a lot of searching and dealing with him worrying and what not," River huffed.

11 nodded in agreement.

A few hours later, 11 and River landed the TARDIS while 10 was frantically scanning the paper trying to find our everything he could about how it had crossed dimensions. He was determined.

"I'm going for a walk," River stated.

"I'll come with you," 11 offered.

"No," River shook her head. "Doctor, I need to be alone for a little while. Please, I'll be fine. We're in 21st century London. What could possibly go wrong? Who - in 21st century London - is going to try and take me?"

11 huffed. "Okay, okay." He said. "But be careful, won't you? I worry about you."

River smiled. "Of course you do," and with that, she strode out of the TARDIS and sauntered off. She walked around several blocks. It was the dead of night and she was completely alone. Or - at least - that's what she thought. She soon came to another turn, but before she made the turn, she heard footsteps come out behind her.

"Hello, Melody."

River whipped around to see a woman standing before her with her dark hair in a tight bun, age marks lining her face, dressed in all black with a silver eye patch over her left eye. "No," River shook her head. "You can't be here . . . You died."

Madam Kovarian considered this. "Yes," she gave a nod. "In a parallel world that never existed." She stepped toward River who took three steps back.

"Stay away," River snapped.

"Melody Pond," Kovarian smirked. "Let me tell you what I see. I see you. And you are pretending to be someone you are not. You are pretending to be brave, and strong, and independent. You have even changed your name. But here's what i see in you - the truth. I see you for what you really are. And do you want to know what you really are? Because I think that you've forgotten. You - Melody Pond - are the same thing that you were all those years ago when I took you in. A scared, lost little child - " River winced at the words. " - who can't find her parents - " the tears began to well up in River's eyes. " - and feels as though she is - well - exactly what she really is - " River moved her hand to her pocket. " - unloved."

River whipped out her gun and held it at the ready, aiming it straight toward Kovarian's heart. "Shut up! Shut. UP!"

"You know that I'm right," Kovarian snarled. "You can tell yourself that you are loved all you like, but just think, your own parents allowed the Doctor to leave you and he left you and - "

"I SAID SHUT THE HELL UP!" River screamed.

Kovarian chuckled. "Melody, darling, you will soon see just how powerful I have become out of pure rage and aged and hatred . . . Hatred for you and the Doctor."

River scowled just before she felt a hand over her mouth. She screamed but it was muffled and there was no chance of anyone hearing it. She felt something sharp in her neck - a needle - and the world around around her began to spin and she was so dizzy and drowsy and she called out as the hand released her mouth - "DOCTOR!" - and then she was out cold before she even hit the pavement.


	19. Chapter 19

11 sat in the console room as 10 ran around the TARDIS console frantically for about a half hour before he left without a word. Searching around, he couldn't find River anywhere. He scanned for life signs with the sonic screwdriver, but couldn't find her in the readings anywhere.

"No," he breathed and bolted back to the TARDIS. "10! WE HAVE AN EMERGENCY!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, shush!" 10 waved 11 away with his hand. "I think I may have found a crash in between realities! This could mean - "

"RIVER IS GONE!" 11 yelped.

"No, it means Rose can come back!" 10 laughed with joy.

"Yeah, I know that." 11 huffed. "I meant, River is gone!"

10 looked up. "What?!"

"She's gone!" 11 put his head in his hands. "Oh, God, NOOOOOOOO! I - I let her get taken . . . It's all my fault!"

10 frowned. "Well . . . We'll find her . . . Don't worry, we will. We have to . . . Right? Right . . . Okay, we will. We. Will. No worries, we'll find her. We will. We will. We will. I promise, okay? We will. Okay. We will."

"I GET IT!" 11 yelled. "I get it, already."

River struggled against the restraints as she returned to consciousness. "LET ME GO! KOVARIAN, GET IN HERE!"

Kovarian entered, as if on cue, and looked at River. "Yes?"

River was seething with anger. "Let. Me. Go."

"And why would I do that?" She whipped a knife out from her pocket and held it to River's throat. "Do you love him? You do, don't you?"

She meant the Doctor. She did. River didn't care, though. She would protect the Doctor until her last breath. She wouldn't let Kovarian near the Doctor. Kovarian could torture River, put knives through her eyes, shoot her, kill her, River really didn't care as long as the Doctor was safe.

"Yes, I do." River spoke rigidly, careful of the knife that was being held against her throat. "But how does that concern you in anyway?"

She smirked and stuck the knife back in her pocket. "Oh, Doctor, Doctor. Love at first sight, wasn't it? You must have so many wonderful memories of the Doctor that you cling to. You must live for the days when you see him." Her tone of voice was contemptuous, and the more she spoke, the more afraid River became. Drawing her face up close to River's, Madam Kovarian spoke in almost a purring voice, filled with malicious delight. "I have a plan for you, Melody. Don't worry . . . it won't hurt you. Much. But the Doctor? Oh, it will hurt him so very much. And the best part of it all? You won't even feel his pain. I'm going to make you forget him. Every single hour, every precious moment . . . every journey, every kiss, every word . . . you'll forget it all."

River's heart began to race, and she shook her head in disbelief. "I will never forget him. You can't make me!" She tried to stifle the tears that rose in her eyes but to no avail. "Nothing will ever take the Doctor away from me," she whispered, her voice rough with emotion.

"We'll see about that," said Madam Kovarian with a smirk and a small chuckle, standing up and walking to the doorway of the small room.

River found herself strapped down to another table in another room with a strange machine hanging over her. She had an idea and she wasn't sure it would work but she didn't have much time. As soon as the Doctor was gone from her memory, her plan could not be put into action as she needed to know who the Doctor was.

So, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She forced herself to remain calm as the machine above her turned in and began to buzz. River thought if the Doctor with all her might, trying to send a mental message to him with her mind;

'Doctor . . . If you can somehow, in some way, hear me . . . Please . . . I need you . . . Help me . . . I need you . . . Doctor, it's Madam - '

And then the machine was fully powered and River couldn't help it. She couldn't think, she grasped to the memories the best she could, but it was no use. All the same, she still tried. But it was still no use! She couldn't think, she could just barely breathe, all she could do was scream while letting the memories of her Doctor slip away before her eyes . . .


	20. Chapter 20

River awoke to the sound of buzzing. She didn't know where she was at first, then she looked around and remembered . . . She remembered. Madam ok rain stood beside the table that she was strapped down to.

"Why didn't the Memory Eraser work in you?" Kovarian snarled. "My men spent years preparing that machine. They tested it on countless hostages and it has never - NEVER - failed to work. Why didn't it work on you?"

River gulped. Madam Kovarian was most dangerous when she was angry, River knew that from years of experience. Her safest option would be to tread carefully. But River Song isn't exactly a 'safest option' person.

"I guess I'm just too string for you machines," River didn't understand why, but she felt weakened. She suspected the poison from her encounter with the Master.

Kovarian narrowed her eyes. "Oh, I don't think so. You - Melody Pond - are WEAK! I can read you like an open book. I know about the little message you sent to the Doctor. Your precious Doctor! Well, let me tell you something. First, before I even lay a finger on him, I am going to make him watch you die! Slowly and painfully. And then, I will destroy him!"

"No!" River cried. "You leave him alone!"

"I will rip him limb from limb until he is just a bloody hip in the tile floor!" Kovarian shouted.

It took all of River's might to suppress a sob of fear and even then, she couldn't help but let out a small whimper. "No," she shook her head. "Do what you like with me, but please - please! - leave him be."

Kovarian smirked. "Are you begging?"

"Yes," River let the tears fall. Nothing mattered anymore. Nothing but keeping the Doctor safe. "Yes, I am. I am begging you . . . Don't hurt him. Just let him go. If you do that, then I will do whatever you say."

Kovarian leaned toward River so that they were mere centimeters apart. "What if I told you that I could help you find you parents without ripping a hole in the fabric of reality? Wouldn't you just love to see them again, Melody? Wouldn't you absolutely love to finally have a life with your parents? The one that you've always wanted?"

"No," River snarled. "Not if it means letting the Doctor die. They're happy where they are and if I could speak to them and they could speak to me, they would tell me exactly what I'm thinking right now; if it risks the safety of the Doctor, then it is not - and never will be as long as it risks his safety - worth it."

Kovarian chuckled maliciously. "Very well, then. Have it your way. You'll both die, then!"

11 was almost giddy. She was alive! River was alive! The message to his psychic paper had proven that and while 10 warned him that it could be a trick, a trap, or she could be dead by now, she might have even been in the verge of death when she sent the message, 11 just knew that she was still alive. He could feel it. The two do them tracked the signal through the TARDIS console, and 11 was smiling.

"I'm coming for you, River." He breathed, speaking in a voice so soft that 10 couldn't hear him from the opposite side of the console. He was sending her a message. "Hold on, my love. I'm almost there."


	21. Chapter 21

"RIVER!" He was running. 11 was running through Sector 8. He didn't know who had River, but whoever it was, she or he or it wasn't going to know what hit them. "River!"

10 was running a few feet behind 11, sonic screwdriver at the ready. He didn't like the looks of this place. He wanted to ask 11 what it was, what it meant, or - at least - if it meant anything to him. What was it going to be? His trench coat billowed behind him like a cloak.

"RIVER!" The two of them called together.

Suddenly, they came to a dead end. They stopped abruptly.

"Well, what now?" 10 sighed. "We're stuck!"

"No, we can't give up." 11 said firmly, feeling across the wall. "It's not a dead end wall, it's a door. I think it's double locked but we should be able to over ride it if we use both of the sonic screwdrivers."

10 scanned the door with his sonic. "No, we can't. It's dead locked,"

"Shit," 11 breathed. "How do we get to River, now?"

"I - I don't know," 10 shook his head.

With every step, with every time her sneaker made impact with the floor, a tiny thud sounded. Her blonde hair had become much more unruly over the years. Her clothes reminded her of what she wore the day she had supposedly lost the Doctor forever . . . But she had hope again.

It has been four months since she was taken from her home. Kovarian found her and she was able to convince Kovarian that she was on her side. For a little while, she thought that perhaps she was. But - just in case - she didn't give her real names. It was much to dangerous. And a good thing, too, that she thought that, for she soon discovered that Kovarian wanted to kill the Doctor and one of his companions.

She entered a room where Kovarian stood, a gun pointed at a woman with curly, light brown hair. The woman's eyes widened as the woman walked in.

"You called, ma'am?" The woman with unruly blonde hair looked to Madam Kovarian.

"Impossible," the woman with equally unruly brown hair and a gun pointed at her head muttered.

"Yes," Kovarian nodded. "Donna . . . The Doctor is on his way."


	22. Chapter 22

11 and 10 found themselves being escorted by guards to who knows where. But - all the same - 11 recognized the guards. And, once they were deeper into the building/spaceship thing, he recognized the building . . . Spaceship thing. 19 could see the recognition in 11's eyes.

"So," said 10. "Where are we?"

"It's a long story," 11 sighed. "I don't want to talk about it."

10 furrowed his brows. "No, I need to know. For once - just once - I really need to know where I going. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I want to know where I'm headed for once in my life."

"Well, I've said this before and I'll it again." 11 snapped. "No, you really don't. You don't want to know where you're going. You don't. You don't. You just don't, okay? Can we drop it now? Can we leave it alone and focus on the task at hand? Because to be perfectly honest, right now, I don't care about anything but finding River."

10 scowled at his older self, but dropped the subject . . . For now.

"Madam Kovarian will see you now," said one of the guards, gesturing toward a door.

11 wrenched the handle and threw the door open, storming inside. 10 got a sneaking suspicion that 11 didn't like this Madam Kovarian woman. Anyhow, 10 followed 11 into the room to find three chairs sitting in a fow, each one occupied.

The first chair in the left was occupied by River who's eyes widened so far when the two Doctors entered the room that both of them were sure her eye balls were about to fall out of their sockets. The second chair was occupied by a woman with her hair in a tight bun, her clothes pitch black, her face marked with deep lines, and a silver eye patch over her right eye. 10 would have had no idea who the woman was if the guards hadn't said her name and 11 wasn't giving her a look of pure hatred, rage, and disgust. Then there was the third chair. The third chair was occupied by a woman with blonde hair that had become so unruly over time. It was not at all like it had once been. Her eyes were a deep brown and with those eyes she gave the tenth Doctor such a look like she had been looking for him so hard and for so long. She looked at him like he was something she had lost as a child and now - as an adult - had come back to her.

"Doctor," said Kovarian.

11 blocked out everything around him but Kovarian. He took a mere glance at River and didn't even notice Rose Tyler sitting there. "Kovarian . . . What the hell are you up to now?"

"Revenge," Kovarian smirked. "But I thought that would be rather obvious. Apparently I was mistaken."

"It wouldn't be the first time," the Doctor shot back with a smirk equally malicious to hers. He was livid. Absolutely livid.

"Well, Doctor, who's your friend?" Kovarian crossed her legs.

"This is John Smith," said 11. "You don't really need introduce your friend do you?"

"I suppose not," Kovarian's voice was like ice. "But this - " she gestured to Rose. " - is Donna."

10 gave Rose such a look of confusion that her cheeks turned brought red. 11 gave her the same look, but she only noticed 10.

"Now, Donna, you know what to do." Kovarian chuckled.

Rose nodded and stood, snapping her fingers at River, she waved her the door. Outside the room, the guards - along with Rose - headed in the opposite direction of where the TARDIS was parked.

"What are you doing?" 10 breathed.

"Just shut up and trust me," Rose whispered back.

They were very nearly at the cells when four gun shots sounded. One for each guard. Then, four thuds as each guard feel to the ground . . . Dead. Rose looked around.

"Good job, Mickey." She smiled.

10, 11, and River whipped around to see Mickey Smith standing there, gun held up.

"Where Martha?" Rose asked.

"She's back near where the arms found the TARDIS," Mickey stated.

"Right," Rose nodded and turned to the two Doctors and River. "We have it get out of here . . . Now. Come on!"

Without another word, the five if them ran to the TARDIS. Martha Jones-Smith waited for them outside the big blue box and the six of them raced inside. 10, 11, and River fiddled with the console until the TARDIS was in flight, spinning through the Time Vortex.


	23. Chapter 23

And then, they all looked up. All of them. Smiling at one another. But then, chaos erupted all at once. River collapsed to the floor in a heap, barely able to breathe. Rose gulped and gave 10 a look of such sorrow and apology.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. And then, she melted. Like wax or a Popsicle or ice cream or all of them combined under a heat ray or something like that, but very fast. And the puddle didn't remain. It sort of . . . Evaporated.

"No," 10 breathed. "No!" He whipped around to look at Mickey. "Why - how - what the hell is going on here?!"

"I don't know!" Mickey shouted back. "I - I don't know . . . ."

The tenth Doctor turned back to where the puddle had been, where Rose had melted, where she had just been standing. He scanned the area with his sonic screwdriver, but it was no use. No use at all. There was nothing there, nothing left, nothing to be scanned, nothing to be found. Nothing.

"I - I thought that - " 10 was sobbing, there was a waterfall of tears streaming down his face. "I - thought - that I had f-f-f-found her! I thought I had found her! I. th-thought that m-may-be she and - we could - I - and maybe - GAH!" 10 bent down and curled up, clutching his head, and rocking back and forth. He took several deep breaths and - after about ten minutes or so - he stood and looked at Martha and Mickey. "I'm bringing you both home. And then I'm going to find her. This can't be just a trick . . . She's out there . . . Somewhere."

Martha looked at 10 with sad eyes and nodded. "Right," she sighed. "Can you - can you drop us off at U.N.I.T. Headquarters in New York?"

10 nodded, set the coordinates, flew and landed the TARDIS, and said 'goodbye' to Martha and Mickey Smith. Then, he turned a attention to 11 and River at last. 11 was rocking back and forth on the floor with River in his arms.

"River," he was whispering, but it was loud enough that 10 could easily make out what he was saying. "River, please wake up. I - I need you. Please. I n-need you, River. I do. You might think I don't, but I do."

"Bring her to the infirmary," said 10 firmly. "Help her, get her stabilized. We have a lot to talk about."

11 huffed, but brought River to the infirmary. He didn't totally see the point if she wasn't alive and he couldn't wake her and he couldn't find her heart beats. But, once she was in the infirmary and she was hooked up to the TARDIS, he was able to find her heart beats and her pulse and that. He git her stabilized and made sure the TARDIS could keep an eye on her while he went and had a chat with 10 - whatever 10 thought they needed to talk about . . . 11 swore that if he was going to try and find out where he was going againAnd where he was headed, then some serious shit was going to go down - and he strode off to the console room. There, he leaned against the railing while 10 leaned against the console. 11 took out a sonic screwdriver and began turning it over in his hands to keep his mind occupied. For whatever reason, the two Doctors let the next hour pass in compete and utter silence.

"Like I said," 10 broke the uncomfortable silence at long last, and looked at 11 almost . . . Expectantly? "We have a hell of a lot to talk about. So where would you like to start, hm?"

11 furrowed his brows. "You're the one who wants to talk," he pointed out and stowed his sonic screwdriver back in his inside upper breast pocket. "You're the one who keeps prying, trying to find out about your future. Trying to find out exactly who knows what. I don't get it, you know better than anyone that spoilers must be avoided and yet here you are, trying to dig spoilers and secrets out of me. I don't get it."

10 sighed. "I don't care about that right now. Right now we have much more important things to worry about and I am perfectly aware of that. For instance, Rose. She was here and then she melted. So, she wasn't really here?"

11 stayed silent for a few minutes. Of course it had really been Rose . . . But he remembered something . . . Something that he hadn't forgotten, he just hadn't thought of it in all of the chaos.

The Valeyard Doctor grinned elatedly. "Oh, Bad Wolf girl, I could kiss you!"

11 walked toward the Moment which stood in the middle of the room, but 10 looked at Valeyard. "Wait, did you just say Bad Wolf?"

"But what do we do now?" 11 asked. He was much more concerned with the fact that Gallifrey was in their hands at that very money than even Rose Tyler. Clara didn't even give him a questioning look. Of all people, Clara!

11 blinked and he was back in the present. 10 must have been nearing that encounter, and very soon. "I don't know," he replied at last. Of course he knew. It wasn't really Rose Tyler. "Probably not. Too good to be true, I suppose."

10 nodded.

11 crossed his arms and turned his thoughts to Clara. Clara . . . She would be fine on her own. She was on Earth, she had her job, after all. He would be able to call her and bring her to the TARDIS while they dealt with all that was going in very soon . . . But not until 10 had gone and met - well - 11 and Valeyard and Clara and Kate and so on . . . 11 sighed. Soon. Very soon. Too soon.

"What about Gallifrey?" 10's words pulled 11 out of his second trance in under ten minutes. "How is it back? How do we fight it?"

'We don't,' 11 thought to himself. 'We can't. That was the whole point. We can't re-destroy it, it was never destroyed. Of course, Rassilon said that but he didn't give the details . . . Thank, God.' 11 sighed. "I don't know," he lied. "I don't know how it could be back it just - it doesn't make any sense."

10 nodded slowly.

"Look," 11 said. "I have to taken River to a hospital where they can heal her. You . . . You go have an adventure."

"What?" 10 furrowed his brows. "With everything that's going on? Not a chance!"

"No, you should." 11 insisted. "You should go and get your mind off of all of this."

10 shook his head. "No. No way. Where would I even go, anyway?"

11 shrugged. "You could go to Pompeii . . ."

"Already did that, remember?"

" . . . . . Or you could go to the day that the Sun expands and burns the Earth . . . . . ."

"Again, I did that already! Do you remember anything? My, God."

" . . . . . . Or you could go meet Queen Elizabeth the first." 11 sighed. "Well, I'm all out of ideas. Now, if you don't mind, I need to take River to New New York . . . After the cat nurse nun predicament, of course."

But 10 wasn't really listening. He supposed that he really could do with a sort of holiday from it all. From Gallifrey and River and 11 in general and all the shit they were being made to deal with. 'Hmmm,' he thought. 'Queen Elisabeth the first . . .'

They were preparing to go to the hospital. River was still in the infirmary. The two Doctors were just standing in the console room, thinking for a few minutes

"I've been thinking about Gallifrey a lot lately," 10 informed 11. "It seems like a normal thing to do as we've just found out recently that it's back - no, it was never destroyed! But, still, I've been thinking. I've been think about the children. All the children who I thought I had killed. Who I have to now kill."

11 nodded sadly. "So many of them,"'

10 gave 11 an odd look. "You know how many . . . Almost exactly."

"No, I don't." 11 shook his head.

"I counted!" 10 exclaimed. "2.47 billion! You forgot? Four hundred years, is that all it takes to forget?"

"I was reminded very recently!" 11 yelled. "But I moved on form that and before that I had already moved on! And if you would like to be angry and disgusted with me for that, go right ahead. But not right now. Now is not the time."

10 pushed it from his head and acted as if nothing had happened and nothing had been said because if he didn't then he would never be able to look at 11 - as long as he was still 10 - ever again. Never.

"Right, well, I'm off." 10 stated. "I've got the time and all. I'll come back two days after I left. That'll give River some time to rest and heal and what not SND when I return, then we'll see what state she's in."

11 gave a quick nod. "Have fun,"

"Aren't you going to tell me to stay out of trouble?" 10 chuckled, looking back over his shoulder as he laid a hand against the TARDIS door.

"No," 11 shook his head. "I'm not even going to bother wasting my breath with such a thing."

10 smirked and entered the TARDIS.

River lay in a blue night gown that the Sisters had given her. She lay on the sterile white sheets. The white blanket lay over her body. Her head rested on the fluffy white pillow.

It was strangely quiet inside the TARDIS. No, quiet wasn't the word. It had been quiet plenty of times over the past three weeks. It was strangely . . . Calm? No, still wrong. It was rather unsettling, if anything. It was strangely . . . Empty.

Then it struck 10; it had been peaceful plenty of times in the TARDIS over the past three weeks. It had been three weeks. Only three weeks. That was it. Three weeks since he saved River from the Master. It felt like months - years, even. But, no, it had been a mere three weeks.

10 shook the thought and set his coordinates for England, 1587.


	24. Chapter 24

10 couldn't believe that 11 had just up and forgot how many children were on Gallifrey the day that Gallifrey was destroyed by . . . He shook the thought from his head and focused on the task at hand. Two Queen Elizabeths stood before him and he wasn't sure which was which. Who was the real one and who was the Zygon.

"Okay, listen to me." 10 said. "Which one of you is the real one and who is the Zygon? This is serious."

"I am," the two of them said in unison, then scowled at each other.

10 huffed. "Look - "

There was a sort if cracking sound and almost an explosion noise and 10 whipped around to find a huge sort of golden portal hanging there in mid air. He gaped at it.

"Back up, your majesties." He turned back to the two Queen Elizabeths, making sure that they backed away, then turned back to the the portal. "It's a fracture in time and space. Anything could come through there." A flash of red flew out if the fracture and fell to the ground. "For instance . . . A fez." 10 furrowed his brows and looked up to the fracture. His eyes then widened as a man feel to the ground before him. "Oh . . . Right. Okay. Well, like I said. Anything. For instance . . . Again . . . . . A person."

The man popped up. He was wearing a purple coat and a bow tie and his hair was very neatly swept to one side. "Oh, wow. I've never seen it from the third persons view but WOW! That - that is proper skinny. That is a tight suit and that is very much proper skinny."

10's jaw dropped . . . What in bloody hell was 11 doing here?! He was supposed to be taking care if River! "What in bloody hell are you doing here?! You're supposed to be taking care of River!"

"Wait, you know who I am?" 11 knitted his brows together in confusion. "How is that even possible? Well, I'll tell you how - it's not! And by the way, River Song?"

10 nodded.

"Oh, I haven't seen her in ages," 11 crossed his arms. "Well, I have but it was complicated and it's wasn't officially her. Well, officially isn't really the right word, is it? Right, well, like I said - complicated. But what's more complicated - ha, never thought I'd say something was more complicated than anything that had to do with River - is that you know who I am."

10 crossed his arms as well. "Yes, it's complicated. Very complicated." He needed it there. 10 had come to the conclusion that this version of 11 had not gone through the whole River debacle as 11 yet.

"Riiiiiiiight," 11 shook his head. "Hold that thought - " he turned back to the fracture. "Oi! Clara! Are you alright?"

'Clara?' 10 thought. 'Who's Clara? 11 never mentioned any Clara. Clara who?'

"Yeah, I'm fine!" A woman's voice called.

'Well, clearly she exists.' 10 sighed inwardly.


End file.
